


No Way Out

by Velasa



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Bad Ending, Gen, ME2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-19
Updated: 2013-10-19
Packaged: 2017-12-29 21:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1010391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velasa/pseuds/Velasa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short dark ficlet based off a prompt and a song of the same name by Stone Temple Pilots.  An AU of the end of the Archangel era of Omega: You can't always get what you want, but at least you can die on your own terms.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Way Out

_Most professional merc company in the galaxy my ass_ Lantar snorted under his breath, _my mother would have caught on faster than these fucks._ It had taken them a few days but they finally figured it out. All the Blue Suns had to do was sit back and wait until they ran out of sinks. Lantar laughed hoarsely, the sound small in his dry throat. Garrus snapped his head over to shoot him as much of a look as could be mustered through an opaque helmet. They were suppose to be quiet up here. Like it really mattered any more…

An unwary batarian’s head made a wet pop when it leaned too far out of cover and into Garrus’ scope but there wasn’t an accompanying roar of anger or burst of fire. It was a waiting game now, sectu hiding in their nest as the genaries stalked on the ground below. 

Detachment helped. It helped to be able to look back at the abattoir the base had become and think _fuck it’s really starting to smell in here_ instead of being crippled by the fact that the place had been painted like that by the corpses of their friends. It helped that the stench quelled their appetites as well; after all no one had the chance to go and get any food. Better to think of things that way. Garrus didn’t seem to be doing as well. The few times he’d spoken every layer of his tone had been pained…. He’d always been too fucking honest, too open, too easily hurt despite the walls he tried to build around himself. Growing up in a loving home on Palaven didn’t prepare you for what the galaxy was capable of.

Thinking about Garrus put an ache in Sidonis’ chest but he quashed that out of existence and brought his Incisor to bear on an asari trying to readjust herself behind better cover. Three quick rounds in the chest put her down and this time one of her sisters was stupid enough to try and drag the dying woman to safety- Garrus finished that one off with another perfect headshot. _Spirits_ he shot beautifully. He wanted to just watch and cherish every one but there wasn’t any time and there was less and less the smaller their pile of heat sinks got. And Spirits help him he wasn’t a sentimental man but Garrus got to him in the worst ways….

It was 4:30 in the morning when they hit their last pair of heat sinks. No panic from either of them, it wasn’t as if they were surprised. A long stare and silence followed. Lantar broke it first, removing his helmet and giving a wry grin as he popped the second to last one into his sidearm. ”Why exactly did we all switch from unlimited ammunition again?”

Garrus took his off as well, finality etched in those strong lines. ”Quicker firing.”

"Fucking shame." The fact that they hadn’t just bombed the fuck out of the building and reduced them to so much rubble could only mean one thing: they wanted Archangel alive. He put down his rifle and watched Garrus do the same, though the older man stroked the weapon once lovingly before snapping it in half. No one else would use his gun. The visor followed suit, rendered unusable. It hurt more than it should have to see the pain in his face as he loaded the last sink in his pistol. 

"I’m sorry I got you into this mess." Garrus said quietly.

"One I’d have been dead years ago if you hadn’t stepped in. And two I knew what I signed up for." Down below one merc head went un-shot, then another, and another. "Fuck, we lasted a lot longer that I would have thought."

Garrus just stared off into the distance like he was already a thousand miles away. ”We did.”

The mercs started gathering in groups again to move on the building. Lantar gave his best effort to smile as he felt a pistol press up under the thin skin of his throat and he returned the gesture to Garrus’. ”See you on the other side.”

Two shots fired simultaneously as the mercenaries started charging up the stairs.


End file.
